Philip Yancey really needs no introduction and he has a habit of dealing with the tough subjects in a down to earth, honest, insightful and helpful way. In this, his newest book, he turns to yet again to a tough subject and asks why it is that the church sometimes has a habit of managing to put out such a negative image, and so polarise a majority of our modern society. In some ways this book almost felt like an American companion to a a book Dave Tomlinson wrote a long while ago, and that has been re-released as an SPCK Classic, 'The Post Evangelical'. Yancey is here looking at how Christianity now fits within what is largely a post-christian culture and so has to deal with a set of circumstances beyond that which it is comfortable with. Society has changed and in some ways the Church has not kept up with that. Yancey asks the painful but necessary question of whether it is the Church or Society that is out of tune and out of step, and he does it thoroughly leaving no tricky subject alone. This is above all a book about Grace, and I would say a book about hospitality and outreach too—key Christian faith agenda's that might just be being overlooked and yet if embraced would see the 'Good News' flourish. This is a must read book, but it is likely not a comfortable read for many who would not want to engage with society as it actually is but would instead prefer it to conform in a way it's unlikely ever to do.

Philip Yancey really needs no introduction and he has a habit of dealing with the tough subjects in a down to earth, honest, insightful and helpful way. In this, his newest book, he turns to yet again to a tough subject and asks why it is that the church sometimes has a habit of managing to put out such a negative image, and so polarise a majority of our modern society. In some ways this book almost felt like an American companion to a a book Dave Tomlinson wrote a long while ago, and that has been re-released as an SPCK Classic, 'The Post Evangelical'. Yancey is here looking at how Christianity now fits within what is largely a post-christian culture and so has to deal with a set of circumstances beyond that which it is comfortable with. Society has changed and in some ways the Church has not kept up with that. Yancey asks the painful but necessary question of whether it is the Church or Society that is out of tune and out of step, and he does it thoroughly leaving no tricky subject alone. This is above all a book about Grace, and I would say a book about hospitality and outreach too—key Christian faith agenda's that might just be being overlooked and yet if embraced would see the 'Good News' flourish. This is a must read book, but it is likely not a comfortable read for many who would not want to engage with society as it actually is but would instead prefer it to conform in a way it's unlikely ever to do.